The Constitutional Court recently abolished the provision for retirement for women at 64 and men at 66 years of age.
However, "under the radar" went the court's position that all judges and prosecutors, according to the PIO law, cannot terminate their duties, but only according to the Labor Law, that is, at the age of 67.
That is why the lawyer of a dozen former judges and prosecutors, Danilo Vujanović, will ask the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council to reinstate them.
Neither at the age of 61 nor at the age of 64, judges and prosecutors can in the future remain without office just because they have met the conditions for an old-age pension.
This position was taken by the Constitutional Court on October 24, when it decided on the constitutionality of Article 17 of the PIO Act, which it repealed as discriminatory, because women could retire two years earlier than men, on the initiative of former judges.
With this position, the Constitutional Court opposed dozens of decisions of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council on termination of office of judges and prosecutors with 40 years of service and 61 years of age, or 15 years of service and 64 or 66 years of age.
Danilo Vujanović, the lawyer of a dozen former judges and prosecutors, considers it correct and a fulfillment of the goal for which his clients stood for.
"They were terminated against their will, without their initiative, simply because they had completed 40 years of insurance service and some of them were only 61 years old. The Constitutional Court agreed that regardless of the fulfillment of the conditions for an old-age pension, all persons if that's what they want, they have the right to remain in employment, until it is terminated by force of law," Vujanović pointed out.
The judges of the Constitutional Court, Snežana Armenko and Momirka Tešić, do not agree with this position, and they separated their opinion during the vote.
Vujanović, however, announces that former judges and prosecutors, after the decision of the Constitutional Court enters into force, will seek to return to their positions.
"Demand to suspend the execution of the decision on the basis of which their function as a judge or prosecutor has ceased," said Vujanović.
In the dispute about when judges and prosecutors are terminated, the collateral damage is the citizens. Due to a legal gap, with the abolition of the age limit of 64 and 66, citizens can only retire if they have 40 years of service, which is difficult for many to achieve.
And Vujanović admits that the Constitutional Court had another option, which would not have caused damage to a large number of citizens.
"The Constitutional Court could set a date, which cannot be further than three months, when the decision will be published in the Official Gazette, and in the period until the entry into force and repeal of the specific provision, the legislative body, the Parliament of Montenegro, is given the opportunity to adopt changes and amendments to the law". said Vujanović.
The Ministry of Justice and the Prosecutor's Council were not in the mood to talk about what the next steps would be after the decision of the Constitutional Court.
From the day the decision of the Constitutional Court is published in the Official Gazette, the Government has one month to submit a Bill to the Parliament that will prescribe a different limit for retirement.
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